Bengal Draft Voter List: Before next year’s assembly elections in West Bengal, the Election Commission has taken an important step on Tuesday morning and released the draft electoral roll of 2026. Along with this, the Commission has also uploaded on its website the list of those voters whose names have been removed from this draft list. All these names were included in the voter list of 2025, but now after the verification process they have been excluded.
Action taken under SIR 2026
The Election Commission has taken this action under Special Intensive Revision (SIR) 2026. According to sources associated with the Commission, more than 58 lakh SIR forms were found ‘uncollectible’, that is, either these forms could not be submitted or the verification of the concerned voters could not be done. On this basis, a large number of names have been removed from the draft roll.
Election Commission explained the reason behind removing the name
The Commission says that many reasons have emerged behind the removed names. Many voters were not found at their registered addresses, some have permanently shifted to another place, while in some cases voters have died. Apart from this, many names were found duplicate in more than one assembly constituency. This process is said to be necessary to make the voter list accurate and transparent.
Check your name in draft voter list
Since lakhs of names have been removed, it has become necessary for every voter to check his name in the draft voter list. This process can be done both online and offline. For online verification, the draft electoral roll can be viewed by visiting the official website of the Election Commission eci.gov.in or the website of the Chief Electoral Officer of West Bengal ceowestbengal.nic.in.
Apart from this, the name can be searched by going to voters.eci.gov.in portal and entering EPIC number or name, district and assembly constituency information through ‘Search Your Name in Voter List’ option. The name can also be confirmed by downloading the PDF according to the assembly constituency on ceowestbengal.nic.in website. A separate list of removed names is available at ceowestbengal.wb.gov.in/asd_sir, where by entering the EPIC number or assembly details, it can be seen whether the name has been removed from the list or not.
App in smartphone is also an easy option
ECINET mobile app is also an easy option for smartphone users. By downloading the app from Google Play Store, information can be obtained in a few seconds through the option ‘Search Your Name in Voter List’. If for some reason online verification is not possible, then the status of the name in the draft roll can also be known by contacting the Booth Level Officer (BLO) of the concerned area or the Booth Level Assistant (BLA) of the political parties.
Voters get chance to register objection from December 16
If the name is not found in the draft voter list or has been removed by mistake, then voters need not worry. The Election Commission has given the opportunity to lodge claims and objections from 16 December 2025 to 15 January 2026. For this, Form 6 will have to be filled and along with it, Annexure-IV declaration form and necessary documents like Aadhar card, passport, birth certificate or old election documents will have to be submitted. This application can be made near the BLO or online through voters.eci.gov.in and E-NET app. After this the Commission will hold a hearing and if found correct the name will be added again.
It is noteworthy that the tenure of the 294-seat West Bengal Assembly is ending in May 2026. In such a situation, there is a possibility of assembly elections being held in March or April 2026. There is intense discussion in political circles regarding this large-scale cleaning of the voter list, because it can have a direct impact on the upcoming elections. The Election Commission says that this step has been taken with the aim of ensuring fair and transparent elections by removing fake and non-existent voters.